Provision of support, maintenance and development services, for a Pobal External Collaboration solution and associated support and services

Pobal

Pobal (The Contracting Authority) seeks to establish a single party framework agreement with a suitably qualified tenderer for the provision of hosting, licencing, support, maintenance and development services, for the Contracting Authority’s External Collaboration solution, and associated support and services as per the specific requirements outlined below. Tenderers must be capable of supporting the existing solution, facilitate the expansion of the present functionality, and also have proven capability to support the Contracting Authority with potential future enhancements such as AI technology. The Contracting Authority has a requirement to continue support for their existing External Collaboration solution – only Extranet User Manager (EUM) service is used at the moment. The Contracting Authority uses EUM to enable an external set of users (approx. 30,000) to access training for the Better Start programme on the Contracting Authority’s in-house Learning Management System (LMS). Better Start National Early Years Quality Development is a national initiative established by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Better Start promotes quality and inclusion in Early Learning and Care (ELC) settings for children from birth to six years of age in Ireland – the Contracting Authority coordinates the delivery of Continuing Professional Development to the 30,000 people involved in the Early Learning and Care sector via the LMS system, all year round. The EUM service is also used to enable access for other business systems that the Contracting Authority manage. In these cases, we are using the EUM service to allow external users to register for access to cloud CRM systems (Power Platform systems in this instance). This may grow over time as the Contracting Authority implement more CRM systems for clients. The Contracting Authority have a central ICT team to manage all technical services and will be the recipients of this service. The initial contract is to manage, develop and monitor the current External Collaboration solution; increase the usage and functionality of the External Collaboration solution for a period of two (2) years. The full list of requirements are contained within the tender documents. All responses must be uploaded in a ZIP FILE format.

Deadline
The time limit for receipt of tenders was 2025-01-20. The procurement was published on 2024-12-06.

Suppliers
The following suppliers are mentioned in award decisions or other procurement documents:
Who?

What?

Where?

Procurement history
Date Document
2024-12-06 Contract notice
2025-09-12 Contract award notice
Contract notice (2024-12-06)
Object
Scope of the procurement
Title: Provision of support, maintenance and development services, for a Pobal External Collaboration solution and associated support and services
Short description:
“Pobal (The Contracting Authority) seeks to establish a single party framework agreement with a suitably qualified tenderer for the provision of hosting,...”    Show more
Type of contract: Services
Products/services: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support 📦
Information about lots
Tenders may be submitted for maximum number of lots: 0
Description
Description of the procurement:
“Pobal (The Contracting Authority) seeks to establish a single party framework agreement with a suitably qualified tenderer for the provision of hosting,...”    Show more
Additional information:
“(1) Interested parties must associate their organisation with this competition on the eTenders web site (www.etenders.gov.ie) in order to be included on the...”    Show more
Additional products/services: Hardware consultancy services 📦
Additional products/services: Software programming and consultancy services 📦
Additional products/services: Computer-related services 📦
Additional products/services: Computer support and consultancy services 📦
Additional products/services: Computer network services 📦
Additional products/services: Software package and information systems 📦
Place of performance: Dublin 🏙️
Duration: 7 (YEAR)
The time frame below is expressed in number of years.
Title
Lot Identification Number: LOT-0001

Procedure
Type of procedure
Open procedure
Administrative information
Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate: 2025-01-20 12:00:00 📅
Conditions for opening of tenders: 2025-01-20 12:30:00 📅
Conditions for opening of tenders (place): https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/prepareViewCfTWS.do?resourceId=4817393
Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: English 🗣️
Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender: 12
Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
Framework agreement with several operators
Description
In the case of framework agreements, provide justification for any duration exceeding 4 years:
“The extended duration for the framework has been selected for a number of reasons including: (a) The embedded and strategic nature of the proposed External...”    Show more

Contracting authority
Name and addresses
Name: Pobal
National registration number: Unknown
Postal address: Holbrook House, Holles Street, Dublin 2,
Postal code: D02 EY84
Postal town: Dublin
Region: Dublin 🏙️
Country: Ireland 🇮🇪
E-mail: tenders@pobal.ie 📧
Phone: +353 15117000 📞
URL: https://www.pobal.ie/ 🌏
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.pobal.ie/ 🌏
Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
Main activity
Social protection
Communication
Documents URL: https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/listContractDocuments.do?resourceId=4817393 🌏
Participation URL: https://www.etenders.gov.ie/epps/cft/viewTenders.do?resourceId=4817393 🌏

Complementary information
Review body
Name: The High Court of Ireland
National registration number: The High Court of Ireland
Postal address: Four Courts, Inns Quay, Dublin 7
Postal code: D07 WDX8
Postal town: Dublin
Region: Dublin 🏙️
Country: Ireland 🇮🇪
E-mail: highcourtcentraloffice@courts.ie 📧
Phone: +353 1 8886000 📞
Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
“In accordance with the Standstill Period as per SI130 - Public Sector Remedies Legislation”
Information about electronic workflows
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
Source: OJS 2024/S 240-752546 (2024-12-06)
Contract award notice (2025-09-12)
Object
Scope of the procurement
Short description:
“The Contracting Authority has awarded a single party framework agreement for the provision of hosting, licencing, support, maintenance and development...”    Show more
Estimated value excluding VAT: 1 000 000 EUR 💰
Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT): 1 000 000 EUR 💰
Description
Description of the procurement:
“The Contracting Authority has awarded a single party framework agreement for the provision of hosting, licencing, support, maintenance and development...”    Show more
Award criteria
Cost criterion (name): Cost
Cost criterion (weighting): 1
Quality criterion (name): Fitness for Purpose of Proposed Service Design and Delivery (35%); Management and maintenance of Ongoing Compliance – Hosting (5%); Management and maintenance of Ongoing Compliance – Quality Assurance (5%); Quality and Expertise of the Team and Proposals for Team and Contract Management (15%); Management of Licencing (15%); Specific Environmental Measures (5%)
Quality criterion (weighting): 2

Procedure
Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without prior call for competition
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests
Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union (explanation):
“An original competition was published under the Open procedure on the Irish Government portal (eTenders) under reference 4817393 in December 2024 and no...”    Show more

Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded
Lot Identification Number: LOT-0001
Contract Number: 0000
Date of conclusion of the contract: 2025-08-01 📅
Information about tenders
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: 1 000 000 EUR 💰
Name and address of the contractor
Name: Severnsoft Limited
National registration number: 01870663
Postal code: BS20 7AW
Postal town: Unit 2, Marine View Office Park, 42 Martingale Way, Portishead, Bristol,
Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Phone: +44 1275 343 199 📞

Contracting authority
Name and addresses
National registration number: unknown
Main activity
General public services

Complementary information
Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Name: The High Court of Ireland
National registration number: The High Court of Ireland
Postal address: Four Courts, Inns Quay, Dublin 7
Postal code: D07 WDX8
Postal town: Dublin
Region: Dublin 🏙️
Country: Ireland 🇮🇪
E-mail: highcourtcentraloffice@courts.ie 📧
Phone: +353 1 8886000 📞
Source: OJS 2025/S 176-602184 (2025-09-12)